This invention relates to an adjustable steering assembly, and in particular to an adjustable steering assembly permitting movement of the steering shaft and associated steering wheel in an up and down direction and a forward and rearward direction.
In the prior art, there are many known mechanisms for permitting the steering column to be selectively adjusted in the up and down direcion, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,939 to James L. Schenten, and to be selectively adjusted in the forward and rearward directions, such as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,678,778 to Donald W. Groves. In some prior art structures, both of these types of adjustment are provided for, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,629 to W. B. Hill.
The disadvantage of those prior art structures that provide both types of adjustment, such as disclosed in the Hill patent, is that they require the use of two separate and independent mechanisms that must be individually set to provide the two types of adjustment. The fact that these prior art structures use two independent mechanisms causes the jointed angles of the steering column to get out of cancellation because they are not positively controlled. To avoid such a cancellation, these prior art structures must use a constant velocity joint, which is a relatively expensive part.
The object of this invention is to avoid the above noted disadvantages of the adjustable steering column structure by providing an integrated mechanism that provides adjustment of the fore and aft location and the angle position of the steering wheel with a single operating step.